The First 90 Days (39 page)

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Avoiding Some Common Traps

Too many managers rely on simplistic fixes to address complicated alignment problems. Be alert to these all-too-common pitfalls:

Trying to restructure your way out of deeper problems.
Overhauling your group’s structure in times of trouble can amount to straightening the deck chairs on the
Titanic
. Resist doing so until you understand whether restructuring will address the root causes of the problems. Otherwise, you may create new misalignments and have to backtrack, disrupting your group, lowering productivity, and damaging your credibility.

Creating structures that are too complex.
This is a related trap. Although it may look good on paper to create a structure, such as a matrix, in which people in different units share accountability and in which “ creative tensions” get worked out through their interactions, too often the result is bureaucratic paralysis. Strive where possible for clear lines of accountability. Simplify the structure to the greatest degree possible without compromising core goals.

Automating problem processes.
Automating your group’s core processes may produce significant gains in productivity, quality, and reliability, but it is a mistake to simply speed up an existing process through technology if the process has serious underlying problems. Automation will not solve such problems and may even amplify them. Analyze and streamline processes first; then decide whether automating them still makes sense.

Making changes for change’s sake.
Resist the temptation to tear down the fences before you know why they were put up. New leaders who feel self-imposed pressure to put their stamp on the organization often make changes in strategy or structure before they really understand the business.

Here again, the action imperative discussed in
chapter 2
creates a sure recipe for disaster.

Overestimating your group’s capacity to absorb strategic shifts.
It is easy to envision an ambitious new strategy. In practice, though, it is difficult for a group to change in response to large-scale strategic shifts. Advance incrementally if time allows. Focus on a vital few priorities. Make modest changes to your group’s strategy; experiment; and then progressively refine structure, processes, skills, and culture.

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Getting Started

Aligning an organization is like preparing for a long sailing trip. First you select your destination (the mission and goals) and your route (the strategy). Then you figure out what boat you need (the structure), how to outfit it (the systems), and the crew mix (the skills). Throughout the journey, you keep an eye out for reefs that are not on the charts.

The underlying point is that there is a logic to organizational alignment. Changing the structure before figuring out the strategy is unlikely to be productive. Also, you cannot assess the fitness of your existing crew until you have a handle on your destination, route, and boat.

1.
Start with strategy.
Begin by taking a hard look at how your unit is positioned with respect to the larger organization’s goals and your A-item priorities. Make sure your strategy is well thought through and logically integrated.

2.
Look at supporting structure, systems, and skills.
Next, look at whether your group’s existing structure, systems, and skills will support the changes in strategy you envision. Dig into and understand these capabilities. If one or more of them is ill-suited to the strategy you have in mind, figure out how you will adapt your strategy and build (or acquire) the capabilities you need.

3.
Decide how and when you will introduce the new strategy.
Armed with a deeper understanding of your group’s current capabilities, chart a path for shifting strategy (if such a shift is necessary).

Block out both changes in positioning (markets, customers, and suppliers) and changes in supporting capabilities. Then adopt a realistic time frame for making these changes.

4.
Reshape structure, systems, and skills simultaneously.
There is little point in reshaping your group’s structure until you have worked out the implications of doing so for systems and for the supporting skills of your group. Avoid the temptation to deal with structure and systems in isolation; they are tightly linked.